Time shifting does not work correctly on RPi4 running Kodi Matrix

[jmooremcc]

I'm trying to upgrade my nextPVR installation from Kodi 17.6 (Krypton on a RPi2) with a Windows 10 backend server running nextPVR V4 to Kodi 19.0 (Matrix on a RPi4) with the Windows 10 backend server running nextPVR V5. Both Raspberry PIs are running LibreELEC. The installation of V5 appears to have been installed correctly and the time setting for V5 is set to 120 minutes and "time shift" mode. I'm trying to duplicate the setting I have under V4 which allows me to buffer and time shift up to 2 hours while watching live TV.

My objective in upgrading is to improve the overall experience I've had with Kodi. Specifically, I want to improve the accuracy of time shifting which I understand is very much improved under nextPVR V5 and Kodi Matrix. 

Unfortunately for me, time shifting has not worked properly with this setup and I have gotten frustrated trying to figure out what I've done wrong. In one of my tests I watched approximately 50 minutes of live TV and then time shifted all the way back to the beginning of the live TV buffer. I had difficulty time shifting forward in time and also had great difficulty getting back to real time. Some time shifting operations were extremely slow while others were a bit faster. Still some time shifting operations took so long I had to hit stop and start over.

The nextPVR addon setting in Kodi Matrix was set for "time shifting" although I also found that time shifting also worked when set to "real time". My experience with Kodi Matrix and the V5 backend was disappointing compared to Kodi Krypton and the V4 backend. I've read about how so many other users have been having a positive experience with Matrix and V5, so if anyone has any suggestions I can follow to improve my experience with this new setup, it will be greatly appreciated. I am including the backend server logs (V5logs-20210501-1832.zip) and the Kodi client logs (kodiMatrix.zip) for your review.

Thank you.

[mvallevand]

You aren't really using Kodi you are using LibreElec 10 on an RPi4 which is still in beta. I am not sure how you are able to even run Krypton on an RPi4 for comparison. Your best stable bet is V5 and Leia with the RPi3 with the 35 minute bug. I can give you a patch to correct that bug if you want create a build for yourself.

Timeshifting will not work in real time, you configured something wrong, likely not restarting after the change.

You didn't provide a debug Kodi log so not much I can do with that one. The NextPVR logs seem to be responding to the requests correctly.

There are a lot of audio warning in the log. Whether that is LE or the RPi4 software decoding I am not sure.

How you skipping? Make sure you don't use the chapter PREV and NEXT arrows unless you want to navigate the guide. Also I do see seeks failing which I can't explain and I'd like to see what might be generating all those seeks in a short periods of time.

Code:

2021-05-01 18:15:53.418 T:1830    ERROR <general>: Process - <http://192.168.3.135:8867/live?channeloid=8289&client=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&sid=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&seek=4552840744-|connection-timeout=10> error 0 seeking. Seek returned -1
2021-05-01 18:15:53.794 T:1831    ERROR <general>: Process - <http://192.168.3.135:8867/live?channeloid=8289&client=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&sid=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&seek=4552634320-|connection-timeout=10> error 0 seeking. Seek returned -1
2021-05-01 18:15:56.895 T:1842    ERROR <general>: Process - <http://192.168.3.135:8867/live?channeloid=8289&client=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&sid=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&seek=4552619844-|connection-timeout=10> error 0 seeking. Seek returned -1
2021-05-01 18:15:56.926 T:1843    ERROR <general>: Process - <http://192.168.3.135:8867/live?channeloid=8289&client=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&sid=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&seek=4552074268-|connection-timeout=10> error 0 seeking. Seek returned -1
2021-05-01 18:15:57.315 T:1845    ERROR <general>: Process - <http://192.168.3.135:8867/live?channeloid=8289&client=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&sid=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&seek=4552357772-|connection-timeout=10> error 0 seeking. Seek returned -1
2021-05-01 18:15:57.678 T:1846    ERROR <general>: Process - <http://192.168.3.135:8867/live?channeloid=8289&client=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&sid=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&seek=4552615144-|connection-timeout=10> error 0 seeking. Seek returned -1
2021-05-01 18:15:58.822 T:1850    ERROR <general>: Process - <http://192.168.3.135:8867/live?channeloid=8289&client=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&sid=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&seek=4552588072-|connection-timeout=10> error 0 seeking. Seek returned -1
2021-05-01 18:16:03.050 T:1853    ERROR <general>: Process - <http://192.168.3.135:8867/live?channeloid=8289&client=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&sid=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&seek=4552557052-|connection-timeout=10> error 0 seeking. Seek returned -1
2021-05-01 18:16:03.125 T:1855    ERROR <general>: Process - <http://192.168.3.135:8867/live?channeloid=8289&client=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&sid=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&seek=4540426352-|connection-timeout=10> error 0 seeking. Seek returned -1
2021-05-01 18:16:03.156 T:1856    ERROR <general>: Process - <http://192.168.3.135:8867/live?channeloid=8289&client=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&sid=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&seek=4540494784-|connection-timeout=10> error 0 seeking. Seek returned -1
2021-05-01 18:16:03.185 T:1857    ERROR <general>: Process - <http://192.168.3.135:8867/live?channeloid=8289&client=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&sid=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&seek=4540484068-|connection-timeout=10> error 0 seeking. Seek returned -1
2021-05-01 18:16:03.260 T:1859    ERROR <general>: Process - <http://192.168.3.135:8867/live?channeloid=8289&client=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&sid=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&seek=4540468464-|connection-timeout=10> error 0 seeking. Seek returned -1
2021-05-01 18:16:03.293 T:1860    ERROR <general>: Process - <http://192.168.3.135:8867/live?channeloid=8289&client=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&sid=c834545ed2564bdabc988f8034dd0507&seek=4540474104-|connection-timeout=10> error 0 seeking. Seek returned -1

Martin

[mvallevand]

As a follow up I just did a test https://youtu.be/9sZ5myINzNo (capture sound from speakers and the capture device sorry) with LE 10b2, an RPi4 running from a NextPVR instance on that same RPi4 capturing from an HDHR. Using the remote you can see the indicator moving around and the seeks happening very well

Martin

[jmooremcc]

As a follow up I just did a test https://youtu.be/9sZ5myINzNo (capture sound from speakers and the capture device sorry) with LE 10b2, an RPi4 running from a NextPVR instance on that same RPi4 capturing from an HDHR. Using the remote you can see the indicator moving around and the seeks happening very well

Martin

Thank you for your response, Martin. Please look at the attached file in my post, KodiMatrix.zip, for the Kodi log. The forum would not allow me to attach the log file so I zipped it before attaching it.

When I first installed the NextPvr addon, the default setting was "real time". I was surprised that mode allowed time shifting because it was my understanding that that setting did not support time shifting. 

I then changed the addon setting to "time shift" and rebooted the RPi4. Time shifting did not work as expected. 

If you wouldn't mind, please replicate my experiment. 
1. Set the V5 server to 120 minutes and "time shift" mode. 
2. Select a live V5 channel and let it run for 50+ minutes. 
3. Use the navigation buttons to go to the beginning of the buffer.
4. Using your remote, time shift forward 30 minutes. 
5. Using the navigation buttons, time shift forward to real time.
6. Try time shifting forward  & backwards random amounts of time.

If you achieve success with the above test, please let me know what your settings were on the V5 backend and in the Kodi addon. 

BTW, I use time shifting to skip commercials while watching the morning news. My Kodi system automatically turns to the morning news at 7 AM every morning, even though my TV is powered off. At 7:40 AM, I power up my TV and time shift back to the beginning of the news. When commercials come on, I time shift forward to skip over them. The morning newscast is 2 hours long and I reach real time by 8:45 AM after skipping all commercials and local news inserts.

My existing system using the V4 backend and RPi2 running Krypton, works well except time shifting is very inaccurate. Which is the reason I want to get V5 and Matrix on a RPi4 working.

[mvallevand]

Are you are going back and fourth between V4 and V5? That might screw the settings up. I certainly won't worry about it without logs.

What do you mean by navigation buttons? The chapter next and prev buttons are guide based and are not necessarily related to the buffer.

I will wait for your Kodi DEBUG log before trying anything I am not in any rush to try more testing then I just showed you working. For Kodi you can upload the debug log to paste.kodi.tv or the LE method via SSH is nice

LibreELEC:~ # pastekodi

Either way provide the URL that you get.

My settings are defaults except for the time, there is no magic in them.

Martin

[mvallevand]

I figured it was easy to test over dinner. If you check the video it works as expected. https://youtu.be/m6BlVo1REiQ

There was a little glitch using Prev chapter to go to the first ET from ET Canada because you have to be exactly at the start or it will just position to the beginning of the show again. Manual rewinding before the start of ET Canada worked. Random skip worked to and I was able to get back to live in The Blacklist with no issue.

Note from pvr.nextpvr and NextPVR point of view there really isn't a concept of "shows", that is all Kodi. If it seeks correctly anytime it is the same logic, Kodi is just telling it where to position the file pointer. I don't typically use the chapter buttons I seek on the timeline.

Martin

[jmooremcc]

Are you are going back and fourth between V4 and V5?  That might screw the settings up.  I certainly won't worry about it without logs.

What do you mean by navigation buttons?  The chapter next and prev buttons are guide based and are not necessarily related to the buffer.

I will wait for your Kodi DEBUG log before trying anything I am not in any rush to try more testing then I just showed you working.  For Kodi you can upload the debug log to paste.kodi.tv or the LE method via SSH is nice

LibreELEC:~ # pastekodi

Either way provide the URL that you get.

My settings are defaults except for the time, there is no magic in them.

Martin

I have 2 separate RPis: one is a RPi2 & the other is an RPi4. I only run V5 on the backend server when I'm running Matrix on the RPi4. The V4 code is disabled when I'm running V5.

Did you look at KodiMatrix.zip in my original post? That's the Kodi Debug log you said was missing. It was generated by Kodi Matrix running on th RPi4. If that log is not sufficient, please let me know.

The navigation buttons I referred to were the chapter next previous buttons in Kodi Matrix. I observed that chapter previous took me to the beginning of the pause buffer and I presumed that chapter next would take me to the end of the buffer. How are these chapter buttons designed to work in a time based system?

I normally use the left & right arrows on my remote to time shift back and forth. In the mornings, I use my remote to time shift to the beginning of the buffer and to skip commercials by time shifting forward. 

Thank you for your help resolving this issue. I'm sure most of the problem is my lack of understanding how to use the new system correctly. 

John

[mvallevand]

I looked at your log file it is not a debug log.

2021-05-01 17:09:01.473 T:800 INFO <general>: Log level changed to "INFO"

If you need to submit logs in the future check how to create debug logs on the Kodi wiki. The main thing I wanted to check is the sensitivity of your remote, it could be sending extra skip commands you aren't aware of since as you have seen skipping works as expected for me. You have set advanced settings to generate repeat keys faster than the default.

I don't know how the chapter buttons work when you don't have guide data, basically all navigation is controlled by Kodi, the addon is not aware of where Kodi is sending it.

Martin

[jmooremcc]

I looked at your log file it is not a debug log. 

2021-05-01 17:09:01.473 T:800      INFO <general>: Log level changed to "INFO"

If you need to submit logs in the future check how to create debug logs on the Kodi wiki.  The main thing I wanted to check is the sensitivity of your remote, it could be sending extra skip commands you aren't aware of since as you have seen skipping works as expected for me.  You have set advanced settings to generate repeat keys faster than the default.

I don't know how the chapter buttons work when you don't have guide data, basically all navigation is controlled by Kodi, the addon is not aware of where Kodi is sending it.

Martin

Martin,

I can't thank you enough for your help. Just as i suspected, I was confused by the operation of the chapter buttons. I ran a 2+ hour test tonight and everything worked well.

I do have an EPG and the chapter buttons made it very easy to navigate to the start/end of TV shows contained within the buffer. During my test, 3 TV shows were accessible within the buffer. 

I also did extensive testing with my TV remote and all worked well. The only other thing I noticed is that changing channels seems to take a little longer than on my V4 system. But all in all, I now feel comfortable with V5 and Matrix.

John

[mvallevand]

Glad to help.  Check the settings to make sure that the delay is as short as necessary to avoid issue.  It can be zero I prefer 1 here but some uses need 3 or more seconds.

Martin